As the month of July and pregnant Kate Middleton's due date fast approach, shops up and down the country are filling their shelves with royal baby memorabilia.From ornate plates to mugs and keyrings, souvenir stores are preparing for the surge in those customers after some special to comemorate Prince William and Kate's baby.
Photographs have been released showing new merchandise, similar to the kind created for the couple's their magnificent wedding or more recently the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation. A golden plate reading "To celebrate the birth of the Royal Baby. First Child of H.R.H The Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cambridge. A Royal Baby 2013" is availble for £8.99 and features two images of the happy couple.
One is from the collection of the pair's official engagement photgraphs, taken by celebrity photgrapher Mario Testino and the other depicts Wililam and Kate emerging from King Edward VII hospital, the first time they were seen in public together following Kate's pregnancy news.
Of course these new items are not the first souvenirs that have been revealed, as the nation waits on tenterhooks for Kate to give birth the duo's little Prince or Princess, royal watchers have been overcome by a wave of royal baby fever prompting the production of books, bibs and babygros.
Fans of Britain's golden couple can have fun browsing through the commemorative memorabilia already in production for Baby Cambridge. Kate, who has been preparing the baby's nursery with the help of her mother Carole Middleton, would probably be tickled by Bloomsbury's picture book, Shhh! Don’t Wake the Royal Baby, which centres on her firstborn.
The cover shows the Queen parachuting down, white hair fluttering in the wind, with the royal baby strapped onto her chest, and is a nod to her stunt for last year's Olympic opening ceremony.
The book tells the tale of the royal family trying to do everything they can to pacify their little bundle of joy who can't seem to fall asleep from the yip-yapping of corgis and the marching guards. With her patience and calm, Kate will surely settle into motherhood quickly and the tale will remain just that.
Mclaggan Smith Mugs have gone for a quirkier and less traditional approach in their mug designs. One notably amusing illustration shows a royal member pushing a dog in a pram, with the phrase "Yummy ma'am" underneath.
Just as Prince William and Kate had their photo printed on wedding souvenirs such as mugs, plates and bowls, references to the royal baby have appeared on such keepsakes. Milly Green has illustrated a whole children's tableware set with sweet images of storks, royal dogs, rocking horses and more.